Tristi Trivia

To go along with the Grand Prize post, here are the answers to the Tristi Trivia questions that have been submitted.

Sheila asked, "Honestly, what is your secret for getting so much writing done?"


I had to make a decision a long time ago about what was most important to me. Writing is one of my priorities, so I let other things go.  My house is always a mess - I do clean it up from time to time, but I delegate a great deal, and I've learned that if I want time to write, I need to live with certain things that otherwise would drive me nuts.  I also treat my writing like a business.  When I do it, I'm focused on it and nothing else. I maximize the time I do have for writing.

Another thing to keep in mind is that I've been publishing for ten years now, and the longer you're in this field, the quicker you get. You can write rough drafts with fewer mistakes because of everything you've learned. You can move through second and third drafts more quickly. It doesn't take as long as it did when I was first starting.

The other thing is to keep writing. When you finish a book, start the next one. That way, you're always ahead of the game, and if you get the chance to put books out more quickly, you have the books ready to go.

Tamera asked, "How did you become an editor/reviewer?"

I became an editor back when I first started publishing. I traded manuscripts with some other authors and gave feedback, and the more I did that, the more I realized I enjoyed doing it. So I started boning up and learning things I didn't know, and asking questions of grammar experts, and slowly increased my skill set. I honestly forget when I started doing it professionally - I've been running my editing company for about two years now, and worked for a publishing company for a year before that. I now handle about four clients a month.

I became a reviewer when I applied to work as a blogger for Families.com back in 2004. They put me in the media department, and I loved it. I've worked for them about three years on and off in different departments, but media was always my favorite. I then did book reviews on my own blog - still do - and now I review for the Association of Mormon Letters.

Shelly asked, "What are some of your muses/inspirations in life?"

Most of my ideas just pop into my head fully formed without necessarily being hooked to an outside prompt - and I will say that being well rested has a lot to do with that. Whenever I've had enough sleep and I've had some time out of the house and away from my usual environs, my brain sparks more easily and I can be creative.

Walnut Springs and Sherry asked, "How do you do it?"

This is a little bit of a vague question - I can only assume they're asking me how I manage to be so wonderful. :) But I could be wrong.

The main thing is just to keep putting one foot in front of the other. I'm not on top of my game in every area of my life every day, so I have to pick and choose - what's the priority today? - and then focus on that while other things slide.